Rhode Island Home Buyers Tips for Avoiding Mistakes
From Mike Auger CMI, a Rhode Island Home Inspector

Hire Your Own Buyers Agent

Many buyers, especially first timers skip this step. Your own buyers agent, works for you and has a fiduciary duty to their client, that means they work in your best interest. The listing agent works for the seller, not you. Here’s the thing, a buyer agent costs you no money, hiring a buyers real estate agent is generally free to the buyer. Why turn down free representation!? Your buyer agent can walk you through every step of the process, helping you to find the best mortgage person, lawyer, and yes, home inspector. They work in your best interest to ensure you aren’t taken advantage of or accidentally waive rights you are fully entitled to. You definitely want a real estate agent to represent you as a buyer. Check with friends, family, co-workers. Good personal recommendations are a great tool.

Let’s look at some reasons why you should use an agent to buy your new home rather than attempting to do it all on your own. If you decide to hire a buyer’s agent then they will be able to aid you in securing financing for your purchase. The most likely option is that an agent will assist you locate a lender who has provided funding for previous deals handled by this particular seller or somebody else connected with the developer. A great buyers agents might have contacts that could help get construction loans, which might not otherwise be accessible. It is essential that if you wish to secure loan approval before choosing where and which property to buy.

Choose The Correct Mortgage for You

There are several ways to go about borrowing money for your new home. There’s the 203K (you borrow money for purchase and repair of home all at once). All you have to do is to find trustworthy and renowned mortgage lenders.

If you are a veteran there are VA loans. There is also the FHA loan where you have a small down payment for first time home buyers. There are also fixed and variable rates, points purchase, different length loans…Be sure to talk to a qualified mortgage broker for these first two steps. Never forget to apply on reliable mortgage groups only.

In Rhode Island, there can be as much as 5-6% of the home price due at closing, just be prepared. Your mortgage broker, if he’s good, will have you prepared for this in advance.

Set a Budget

Many home buyers in RI begin shopping without setting a budget. Before shopping, do your research and see what you can afford, if you cant make the mortgage payment, and you lose the house, you haven’t done yourself any favors. Also see what you are pre-qualified to borrow, no sense falling in love with a new house you can not get financing for. House Movers moving company services are ideal if you don’t want to carry a large number of items.

Research the Community

Especially if you are new to Rhode Island or even the the area of RI, do some home work on the area. If you have children or plan to have children, check out the school district. Some areas can have large differences in taxes even though they are relatively close, also read the local paper and have a look to see what’s going on. Check the items that will impact your family lifestyle. On other hand, if you’re a seller, you can increase the chances of selling your home with sites that possess features like sell my house fast.

Know What Houses Cost

Be aware what homes in your budget generally sell for (not list for). If you don’t get this information and you like the first home you see, you could pay tens of thousands of dollars too much. A quality realtor should be able to have this information readily available for you. If you’re looking for affordable housing, there are tons of wonderful options.

Take a Drive by the Place at Night or Off-Hours

If you drive by most neighborhoods on Sunday afternoon, it may be a drastic difference from Friday night. The neighborhood may not seem a inviting and you may think twice about moving your family there.

Buy a House That Suits its Neighborhood

Refrain from buying a big home in a neighborhood full of small ones. If you buy a home for $700, 000 and all the other homes in the area are $215,000 homes, it may lower your property value.

Consider Resale

I know it’s looking ahead, but if the home has odd features, it may suit you perfectly, but might make it harder for you to sell down the road. Other things like bedrooms, a three bedroom home is much easier to sell than two. Same with bathrooms, an average 4 bedroom home has 2 bathrooms, if you buy a 4 bed/1 bath, you’ll be competing against 4 bed/2 bath homes when you go to sell it, and if you want to change anything else in your bathroom, using bathroom renovation services can help a lot with this. I’m not saying don’t buy a home that’s not super easy to sell, just take it into account that’s all.

Get a Quality Rhode Island Home Inspection, and Read All Of It!

Know what you are buying. The only way to know is to pay for a quality home inspection. Hire a guy who Auger Enterprisesknows what he’s doing (me) and you will not regret it. Don’t skimp here, if you price out inspectors and there are a couple significantly cheaper guys, stay clear. A good inspector is trained, and has experience and equipment to do a good job, to get those items at your disposal it does cost money. You can buy a home that has defects or needs work, just buy accordingly and know up front. Sellers (especially flippers) will try to polish up the place and a quick look does look good, but a thorough inspection can yield information vital to your best decision making.

Also with today’s large amount of bank owned properties, you never get a sellers disclosure either, skipping the RI home inspection here is a bad idea.

Know What Repairs Cost

Get an idea of the cost to repair deficiencies in your prospective home. Your home inspector may or may not help with this. I will do my best to get you in the area, if I can. Don’t take the realtors word for it, get good info on your own. Its OK to get quotes from contractors. It would not be good if you thought you purchased a home that needs a new roof and you think it costs about $3000 and you find out it costs $8500. Who has an extra $5000+?